There is plenty of discussion about mid-life in my circles. Sometimes it is comical. Other times it is serious and painful. We all view life and death in different ways. I have learned a lot by just listening and absorbing the different beliefs, fears and approaches to aging.

I think the biggest chuckle I have (and others, as well) is how the heck midlife will play out for me. I've already done some things outside the norm as I've been finding my true self in life. Will I hit 45 and start wearing sweater-sets? Or *gasp* start brushing my hair again?

I have no idea, but I do know that we all lean toward a sense of panic as we face our own mortality. We evaluate all we've done with our lives and are our own worst critics while comparing our existence to others. In that, we tend to miss all of the good and amazing we have experienced. We forget all of us have mundane and all of us have fabulous. All of us have sacrificed and all of us have been selfish. It's just that our details are different from the details of others.

It is this kind of panic and fear that drives people to do some crazy things. Or are they crazy? Maybe it's the motivator to just have some fun, already. Maybe it's what drives us to finally lighten up and get a little bit of everything out of life. It's okay to still have the mundane and the safe ... and the fun and playful!

I have been reading back over some things my friend has written. I'm letting them inspire me, not instill panic or depression. I wanted to share them with you, as well. I believe he left this earth feeling fulfilled. He did do some amazing things ... but so have I, dangit.

"Something I have gained with aging, is much more
confidence in myself. I am not afraid to take the path less
traveled, and actually I often seek it out. If everyone wants to do
something one way, I might intend to do it another way, just
because."

"I have achieved some great things in life
for my age."

"While I am individualist, it's not the same
as selfish. I try to keep in mind how my actions affect the people
around me, so I strive to live in a way that is healthy for me, and
others."

"Life is about new adventures, new experiences and enjoying the
total richness of it."

Now, get your butt out there and enjoy it all - even the boring parts. Because hey - those are the things that provide for the crazy fun!

crap i write about

years of drivel

"My story is important not because it is mine, God knows, but because if I tell it anything like right, the chances are you will recognize that in many ways it is also yours.
Maybe nothing is more important than that we keep track, you and I,of these stories of who we are and where we have come from and the people we have met along the way because it is precisely through these stories, in all their particularity, as I have long believed and often said, that God makes himself known to each of us most powerfully and personally."